Murder Your Darlings
by beautyqueenforbes
Summary: Klaus is a merciless, cold man. However, he becomes enamored by Caroline Forbes, a girl with one foot in the grave. When her heart stops, he saves her life, but condemns her to the same terrible fate as he. Guilt-ridden, Klaus decides to teach Caroline the skills she'll need to survive, give her the cancer-free life she never had, and maybe save her soul in the process, too.
1. The Deaths We Die

He had become bored of challenges. After one thousand years, Klaus preferred merely to take what he wanted quickly and without too much trouble. Hospitals served as playgrounds for the hybrid, where he exercised his bloodlust on the weak. His brother, noble Elijah, chastised his cruel habits. But he was no better. It was in Klaus's nature to destroy, maim, and kill. He was the hybrid; he could not love. He could not feel, forgive, or sympathize. He refused to stop. He refused to be redeemed.

He had never intended to care.

* * *

She was too far gone. Barring the limits of her parent's budget, Liz and Bill had done everything in their power to get her the treatment she needed to survive. Chemotherapy was far too expensive. They would have had to sacrifice hot water, electricity, and other basic luxuries to afford it, and Caroline couldn't have lived with herself if they had. Not for her. Not for their selfish, ungrateful daughter, whom they loved far more than she deserved.

Caroline was going to die in four months. There was nothing more they could do for her.

She had had plans for senior year, big plans. She had signed up to be head of every committee, planned on campaigning for prom queen (and winning), and had duties as reigning Miss Mystic Falls. It was supposed to be her best year yet, and within a single day, a single fleeting moment, it had become a nightmare.

The day before the school year was set to start, Caroline woke to a building pressure in her chest and head, feeling more exhausted than she had before going to bed the prior night. Coming downstairs to make herself breakfast, it only worsened.

Liz had already left for work, leaving Caroline alone. When the meager spoonfuls of cereal she had swallowed down came back up, and blotches of black danced across her field of vision, she slipped into her car and drove herself to the hospital.

* * *

_She hadn't enjoyed a full night's sleep in almost a month, not since being inducted into the hospital. In her ward after dark, time oozed by lazily. Everyone who passed by, she bore witness to during those sleepless nights._

_ When he came, that night, the girl in the room next to hers bled out from the neck. The following night, the boy adjacent to her met the same fate. The next five nights, more patients died the same way, and each evening, he disappeared down the hall. The staff didn't seem concerned that their patients were being picked off one by one, but she feared she was next._

_ Three nights and thee patients later, she woke from a brief and blissful respite to find him waiting for her, her case file splayed open over his palms. When she stirred, he glanced up, and a smile stretched across his lips._

_ "Hello, Caroline."_

_ Her breath hitched, almost imperceptibly. "Are you here to do to me what you did to the others?" She looked him in the eye, refusing to show the fear blossoming in the pit of her stomach. Caroline Forbes didn't want to die, not here, and certainly not now._

_ It may have been just a trick of the dark, but for one fleeting moment, she thought she had seen a flicker of astonishment in his eyes. Just as quickly as it had appeared, however, it was replaced by a dangerous smile. He closed in on her, slowly. She stopped breathing as his fingers wound in the curls just above her ear. He tilted her head back, bringing their faces so closely together that their breath mixed in the small space between them. Her eyes shifted from the stubble that, in the close proximity, she could see on his chin, to his lips, then finally, to his eyes—a mistake. She was held there, watching his pupils dilate._

_ "Why are you here?" He murmured, barely above a breath._

_ "Cancer." She didn't want to tell him this, but her mouth moved, not of her own volition. She didn't want him to know anything about her._

_ "Do you have much longer to live?"_

_ "No."_

_ His fingers tightened in her hair. "Why aren't you being treated?"_

_ He wasn't supposed to know that. He wasn't supposed to know her name, or anything else about her._

_ "My parents can't afford it."_

_ His gaze flickered elsewhere, releasing her from his hold._

_ "What's your name?" She whispered._

_ He only smiled._

_ She felt his lips on her neck before she saw him move. He smelled like aftershave, and something strong and unfamiliar._

_ Caroline swallowed, strengthening her resolve. "Why haven't you killed me yet?"_

_ His lips parted against the supple flesh of her throat. His warm breath ghosted over her collarbone. In her peripheral vision, she saw his fist tighten around the rail of her hospital bed._

_ Black tinged the edges of her vision, and then it consumed her world._

_ When she woke, he was gone._

* * *

_He returned the following night. "Klaus," He said, looming over her bed. "My name is Klaus."_

_ She had woken from a brief and rare slumber, after a long grueling day. Her head lolled to the side, and gently, she probed her neck, remembering his lips on her throat. She found no marks, and no pain._

_ "Klaus." She tested his name on her tongue. "Why didn't you kill me?"_

_ He smiled, drumming his slender fingers on the bedside table._

_ "Perhaps I prefer you alive."_

* * *

_ Every night after that, Klaus visited her. Sometimes, he would bring her food, which she was at first wary of, but then grew to appreciate. Other nights, he brought her books—favorites of his, he said—to read._

_ All the while her condition was worsening._

_ "I could heal you, you know," He told her one night._

_ "Why?" She smiled weakly. "I'm going to survive."_

* * *

_ Most nights, they talked about her—her hopes, her dreams, her aspirations. He steered the conversation away from himself. She knew he had five siblings; she didn't know two of them were dead, one of which was his fault. She didn't know the other three despised him. There really wasn't anything more she needed to know, nor anything more he wanted her to know._

_ Steadily, she had grown more comfortable in his presence. One night, when he came for her, though, she seemed distant and exhausted. After only a few minutes, she stopped speaking. Her eyes moved to the ceiling and stayed there, her breaths too quick, and her skin too pale._

* * *

When the heart monitor flat lined, he didn't think. He just acted.

The incessant buzzing filled his ears as he pressed the torn flesh of his wrist to her lips, his free hand grasping at the curve of her neck. He hadn't remembered biting into his wrist, nor did he remember killing the nurse lying in a pool of her own blood on the floor. All he knew was the limp body of the girl in his arms.

Still barely conscious though, Caroline wanted to scream. It was as if her throat had been stuffed with cotton. Air didn't rise from her lungs, and all sound was absorbed by the wispy substance. He was finally going to do it; he was going to kill her. At seventeen, she was going to drift off into the sunset, and no one would remember the tragic girl who died too young.

* * *

**A/N — After several months, finally, _finally_, I actually got around to typing this up. Lesson learned—don't bother with a pen and paper. Plus, I couldn't decided on how I wanted to organize the first chapter. Anyway, I always wanted to write something like this, after someone asked me about this graphic I made based on the first chapter of L.J. Smith's _Secret Vampire_. Hopefully, though, this will stand completely as something of its own, and I hope the way I formatted everything doesn't come across as too confusing. I edit all my own work, so it's hard to view it from a different perspective, but I try. Anyway, I'm rambling. I really, truly hope you like reading this as much as I enjoyed writing it. (Also, Chapter 2 should be up sometime next week. I want to keep a good consistency with this one.)**


	2. From Diamonds to Dust

Heaven smelled a lot like her shampoo.

Or, rather, her hair, which was unceremoniously slung over her face, smelled like her shampoo. Caroline Forbes woke dumped in a four-poster canopy bed, engulfed in sheets and with a wicked pain in her neck. Snippets of memory floated in and out of her consciousness. Nurses. Hospital. Sick. Cancer. Klaus.

_Klaus_.

Oh, god. Klaus had done something to her. She didn't recall exactly what, or why she was suddenly afraid of this man whose wicked smile stuck in her thoughts. But she was certain that it was he who had brought her here, and she wasn't waiting to confirm her suspicions. All Caroline knew was that she had to get away.

The bedroom was comprised of an enormous room adjoined with three other doors, one of which she had to assume to be a hallway. Another opened on to a balcony overlooking what looked to be some sort of miniature lake. The carpets were plush, and her feet sunk down a few inches into them when she slung her legs over the side of the bed.

The double doors that opened out to the balcony were unlocked.

Swinging the doors open with an unprecedented ease, the night air wrapped around Caroline like a blanket, or maybe like a hug from an old friend. It felt as though it'd been centuries since she'd breathed in fresh air. Being outside again took a pressure she hadn't known was there off of her chest.

But she was on a mission.

From up high, the jump from the balcony looked awfully far, but Caroline was positive that if she angled her body just right, she could get away with only a few bumps and bruises. She slipped her shoes off, sliding one foot in between the rails and bringing the other up to rest on the balcony's ledge. Slowly, she eased her other foot beside the first, and she was staring down at a particularly thorny-looking rose bush.

"You won't make it, you know."

Caroline turned her head, just a fraction of an inch, to see him standing in the doorway.

She lost her balance.

Her toes curled around the ledge, and she wobbled there for a few moments before regaining her stance. A cool breeze blew her hair into her face, and her nerves strained into a knot in her stomach.

"You're wrong," She retorted.

"Am I?" His footsteps drew closer, and she inched forward, now balanced even more precariously on the edge. "You're going to jump, and when you do, you'll break a few bones. Bruise a few ribs, maybe snap a wrist—or your neck. Either way, you're going to black out, and when you wake, you'll be right back where you started."

Somewhere, deep in dark crevices of her mind, she knew he was right.

She didn't care. She jumped.

The wind whistled in her ears, her hair whipping in all sorts of different directions. Caroline angled her hip towards the ground, like she had read in a book once. The impact sent a blossoming pain that started in her shoulder and worked its way down surging through her body. Her hip began to throb like a second heartbeat, and she groaned. Just before her eyes fell shut and the pain claimed her, though, she saw him, leaning over the edge of the balcony with his mouth open. Somewhere, she thought she heard someone yelling her name.

* * *

Caroline hated to have to admit it to herself, but he had been right.

And this time, the doors leading to the balcony were locked.

Not that she was particularly inclined to do it again. The pain had been excruciating enough to turn her off from anymore balcony jumps for a while; although, mysteriously enough, she had woke feeling as good as new. Though, she did smell vaguely like grass and dirt, and a stray leaf was knotted in an impenetrable snag in her hair.

So, to draw her mind from her current predicament, and looming fears that without the medicine, cancer would claim her in her sleep tonight, she decided to get a shower. The bathroom didn't have any windows, but much like the bedroom, it was enormous. Besides basic amenities, there was a bathtub big enough that, if you laid down, you couldn't see over the sides. A few shelves boasted a few dozen body lotions, face creams, and other scrubs and moisturizers, many of which she'd had in her own bathroom at home, eerily enough. The shower was one of those fancy, multi-jet showers enclosed by a glass panel that looked out on the rest of the bathroom.

It took Caroline a few tries to figure out how to get the hot water on, but when she did, the feeling was enough to make her worries melt away for just a little bit. She took her time, not wanting to face reality. She could've stayed in there forever, shampooing and scrubbing for as long as it took to forget that she was in a strange place, with a strange man, not sure if tomorrow would be her last day or her next breath would be her last. But, eventually, the water ran cold, and she stepped out, wrapping a fluffy white towel around her torso that was as soft as the comforter in the bedroom.

Klaus was waiting for her when she stepped out.

* * *

**A/N: I wanted to start off by thanking anyone and everyone who reviewed, followed, or favorited this story. Your support, especially your kind words, mean so much to me! I also wanted to answer a few questions I received from one reviewer in particular, Musical Teardrops. (Thanks, by the way! It's so cool to be able to answer questions like this!) Besides Esther and Mikael, both Finn and Henrik are dead, and Rebekah, Elijah, and Kol will all play major parts in this story as I foresee it currently. Caroline will definitely experience a huge moral struggle in falling for Klaus, especially when it comes to trying to discern whether or not they're really all that different when it comes down to it. Finally, I would like to include other pairings in this story, but I'm not sure which ones. Outside of Klaroline, I'm a multi-shipper with most characters. Like, I sort of ship Marbekah (or, as some people call it, Rebel), and Mabekah, and I'd like to have a happy ending in store for Rebekah. As of this moment, I just definitely know I'm down with incorporating some Kalijah. I hope that answers your questions sufficiently! Anyway, although it took me longer than anticipated to get this out, I sincerely hope it was worth the wait! Hopefully, I'll have the third chapter up sometime next week. I might even post the fourth chapter, too, since I'll be on vacation the week after next. Anyway, happy reading! (Also, you can find me on Tumblr at beautyqueenforbes, so if you'd like to drop a message there, feel free!)**


	3. A New Nightmare

She took his breath away.

What a cliché that was, used and abused by modern and classic epic romances alike, but it was the only term suitable to define the constriction in his chest, the lack of words that had been just about to spill forth.

Caroline glowed, her skin a delectable pinkish shade, her damp curls framing her face with blonde snags. She was impeccable, more delicate and awe-inspiring than any queen or princess whose company he enjoyed the pleasure of. All that marred that vision she presented was the easily torn swath of fabric that veiled her torso and hips from view. How he longed to watch it fall away.

Oh, he had plans for her. He was a covetous creature, and from the moment he laid eyes upon her, Klaus had imagined adding her to his expansive collection of precious baubles. She was more entrancing than any painting or statue he had come across, and given the choice, he would select her over the finest diamonds any day based on sheer beauty alone. He would deify her, and place her upon a pedestal of gold, reveling in the wave-like undulation of her golden hair and the unflawed canvas of her body.

He imagined marking it with his teeth and tongue.

"Is there something I can help you with?" She snapped. No doubt she was embittered by her current predicament. There was no escape, and deep down, she surely understood that.

And just like that, his ire returned. Escape had been a futile endeavor, and it was a mistake he would ensure she did not repeat.

"You and I are due for a little chat."

She took on an offensive posture, her stance rigid and her arms folding. One foot tapping, she answered, "I was thinking the same thing."

His eyebrow quirked and he couldn't find it in him to be anything other than amused at her indisposition to cooperate. "Oh?"

"Yeah," She spat, brazenly closing a few inches between them. "I do. You need to let me go, right now. I don't know what sick game it is you're playing, or for what messed-up reason you think that it's okay to pluck me out of the hospital and dump me god-knows-where." Her expression softened just slightly, and she added, quieter now, "I need my family. I need the medications."

He was not swayed in the least. Perhaps, in some small crevice of his heart, he pitied her need for the loving embrace of a mother and father. But she would learn to abandon that in time.

"Interesting proposition, love, but no."

She pushed him then, hard, rallying all her force behind her balled fists. And, surprisingly enough, he was jostled. He stumbled back a few feet, obviously flustered by her sudden outburst.

Straightening, he resumed his position, liberating himself of a few inches that separated them. Their chests pressed together, the texture of the terry cloth of her towel a mere tickle on the exposed skin peeking out from the unbuttoned collar of his henley.

"I wouldn't do that again, if I were you."

Were it anybody else, anybody but his new toy, they would be dead.

Before she could interject with a new argument, he launched into his diatribe. "I didn't come to be shoved around, Caroline," He said, his tone dangerous and acidic. "I came to discuss your little stunt earlier."

She took a step back so that she could fold her arms across her chest. "Well," She sneered. "I think it speaks volumes that I'd rather jump off a balcony than be anywhere remotely _near _you."

He chuckled, not quite sure whether he admired her for her bravery or pitied her for her stupidity. Either way, it did not change his next words.

His comparatively light—if you could call it that—demeanor faded, and became dangerous within an instant. "Where you have received me with hostility, I expect gratitude. That being said, I will keep this concise. I expect this sort of incident never to crop up again. And if you comply, all will be forgiven in time. Otherwise…"

A sinking feeling blossomed in Caroline's stomach. Perhaps it was his use of 'never' and 'in time', or maybe it was the look in his eyes earlier, like she was some sort of new toy of his that he was just dying to get his hands on, but she found herself unsettled, to say the least. She'd been denying it in her mind, refusing to acknowledge that a man she really didn't know had scooped her up out of the hospital and dumped her god-knows-where to do god-knows-what to her. Now, it hit her full force how bleak the situation truly was.

Because no one in their right mind carts a strange, dying girl off without some twisted reasoning behind it.

"Stay away from me," She whispered.

That smile returned again, as if he had not just threatened her. As if he weren't a lunatic who visited hospitals after hours and stole their patients away in the night. As if she weren't standing there, radiating how much she despised him.

Klaus assessed her towel-bearing form once more, with appreciation. "You'll be joining us for dinner. And as little as I mind your current dress, I suggest you seek out something more appropriate."

* * *

Her wardrobe, a towering thing of intricately carved oak with a side door that housed a mirror and seven drawers, was offensively paltry in stock. It wasn't that there wasn't an abundance of clothes to choose from, but rather, there was an abundance of skimpy, lacy things—lingerie and short skirts and the like—that simply wouldn't cut it for Caroline. And thus, she ended up traipsing down the massive spiral staircase, chauffeured by a servant with downcast eyes, wearing the most unrevealing item she had found in the entire selection: a lovely white lace dress with a high hem that offered a sheer panel that stretched across her shoulders as way of coverage. Nonetheless, it shielded her somewhat, and with that, she would have to make do.

Klaus was waiting for her at the bottom of the staircase.

His eyes were trained elsewhere, in a room that she couldn't see, but when he heard her footsteps, he glanced up. And for a moment, he looked utterly dumbstruck. His mouth fell open, and it seemed as though he was utterly, inexplicably focused upon her.

Then, he recovered.

He offered her his arm, and as graciously as she could, she took it. She refused to meet his eyes.

"Am I meeting someone?" She asked, noting his more formal attire. He wore slacks, and a white dress shirt, neatly tucked in.

"My siblings," He responded. "My sister, Rebekah, and my brothers, Elijah and Kol."

"Isn't it a little early to be introducing me to your family?" Caroline deadpanned.

He laughed as though she had truly meant it to be funny, and then he led her into an adjoining room.

Three pairs of eyes met hers, and Caroline instantly felt smaller, as she always did when she knew she was being judged. The blonde, striking enough to be intimidating and presumably Rebekah, spoke first.

"My, my," She cooed. "Is this the stray you've dragged in?"

Her smile was icy and her eyes were cold. After giving Caroline an appropriately dehumanizing once-over, her piercing stare shifted to Klaus.

Seemingly unaffected, he replied, "I was taking a page out of your book, dear sister."

"Attempt to be civilized, please," said another one of Klaus' siblings, dressed in an impeccably-fitted suit and with his focus directed elsewhere. He'd seemed to lose interest almost immediately, for which Caroline was grateful. Although she didn't have an inkling of an idea of anything about him, it made her like him a little. The last thing she needed was to be stared at like a microbe under a microscope.

The third and final member of the group, another male who was dressed far more casually in jeans and a T-shirt, was far less intimidating than the other two. This brother offered a toothy grin and a little wave. "My," He mused, his eyes never leaving Caroline. "I can say far more for your taste than our sister's."

"Shut up, you wanker," Rebekah snapped. "At least I keep my lovers satisfied."

"You mean, until you get bored and kill them off?"

Klaus lifted a long-stemmed wine glass from the table, tapping a spoon against the rim. The noise seemed far more overpowering than it should have, sending a shock of pain through Caroline's forehead. Instinctively, she covered her ears. She didn't understand why it seemed like someone had turned the volume up on, well, everything. But she was certain that it had to do something with Klaus and what he had done to her.

"Enough you two," Klaus reprimanded his siblings. He pulled one of Caroline's hands away from her ears and smiled apologetically, before turning back to the table before them. He dragged out a seat adjacent to the head of the table for her. Admittedly a tad afraid to refuse, especially over something so trivial, Caroline obliged.

"Caroline, this is my brother, Elijah." He gestured to the suit-adorning male seated to her left, and he finally looked up at her, gently taking her hand in his and kissing the top of it.

"Pleasure," He murmured, and as soon as he had released her hand, he seemed unfocused again, his attention wandering elsewhere.

Klaus then directed her attention to the other male at the table, presumably Kol. "And this, Caroline, is my other brother, Kol."

He sat across from her, and to his right sat Rebekah. He stood, and Caroline took that as her cue to do accordingly, and he did as Elijah had and kissed the top of her hand. "Lovely to meet you, darling," He offered before sitting back down. Unlike Elijah, his eyes did not leave her.

Finally, Klaus motioned to Rebekah. Unlike Kol and Elijah, who had dark eyes and dark hair and resembled Klaus little, Rebekah shared his light eyes, light hair, and full lips. "As you may have guessed, this is my sister, Rebekah."

Rebekah didn't stand, or offer her hand to shake, or even so much as smile. She did not say a word, but instead, she stared at Caroline like she was an insect, or perhaps something to eat. Caroline did her damndest not to seem intimidated, meeting her gaze evenly.

After what seemed like an eternity of this, Klaus sat down at the head of the table, and Rebekah looked away. Caroline felt a tad of triumph at the thought that she hadn't backed down, and resisted the urge to smile, just a little. Instead, she turned her focus to Klaus as well.

He tapped the spoon against his empty wine glass again, and this time, Caroline just balled her fists at her sides and ignored the shooting pain in her temples. Five servants appeared from behind doors she hadn't noticed before, cleverly painted to seem as though they were a part of the walls. Each servant carried a pitcher of wine, and in unison, they stepped forth to fill all of the dinner guest's glasses. When they had filled all of them with a perfect, to-the-brim pour, all four of the other occupants of the room lifted their glasses to their lips. Caroline did the same.

She choked on the taste. A couple times before, her parents had let her have a taste of wine. But this most definitely did not taste like her parent's wine, or any kind of wine at all, for that matter. Instead of having the slightly bitter tang that was inherent to wine, it tasted coppery and metallic, and if she was being truthful, sort of luscious. No, they certainly weren't drinking wine.

They were drinking blood.

* * *

**A/N: So, obviously, this took a lot longer to finish than I'd like, but I'm really appreciative to all of you that have stuck with me so far! Your kind words give me life, and I hope you continue with me and this fic. I'd like to finish the next chapter sometime next week, but I've been really sick lately, so, fingers crossed. Also, a long time ago, I wrote my first KC fic, He Will Not Be Denied. I haven't updated in a while, and I'm not sure if I should continue it. If any of your lovely readers have the chance, please let me know what you think. Anyway, the response to this has been more than amazing, and I am so grateful for each and every one of you. I hope you enjoyed reading this as much as I enjoyed writing it!**


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